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Potential fuel for the Porsche LMP1 Hybrid rumors?
Autosport print had an interview with Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich regarding the future of the Audi R18 program. It seems because of the R18's success at LM, Audi have been given the go-ahead to develop a hybrid version of the R18 for Le Mans and the WEC next year. It will be a substancial evolution of the current car, and will resemble it closely, and will use the basic mechanical and structural elements (a question mark there, as I don't have an copy of Autosport at hand, though the R18 was designed for the use of a hybrid system from the start). However, it'll have many detail changes to allow for optimization and full implementation of the hybrid system.
Why is this import for Porsche? The current 911 GT3 Hybrid's Williams/Porsche flywheel system is less than ideal for an LMP1 car, especially one that's supposed to weight 775kgs per the proposed 2014 rules. The Flywheel is bulky, weighs a ton (at least 200lbs/100kilos, if not more), and in the 911, there's plenty of space, and the weight penalty isn't extreme, in part because of its F1 like push to pass feature, which is illegal under current ACO regs.
Audi are rumored to maybe be pursing WERS, or waste energy recovery systems, to power the R18 hybrid (which is what I'll refer to it now, since it's rumored that Audi may change the car's designation to keep it from being confused with the normal R18). WERS has the potential to be lighter and easier to package then KERS, or the flywheel, and it stands to reason that if Audi can get a WERS system to work, it makes perfect sense to Porsche to use a similar system.
Even if Audi pulls out of the LMP1 class after 2013, their legacy may be left behind in the electric hybrid bits on the Porsche LMP1
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